- Eric y Marlene en Barcelona
Me ha pasado algo mágico. Estando en Frescota recibí un mail a mi cuenta de In the Mood for Food. Era de Eric Eden, un americano que había venido a Barcelona con su mujer Marlene Hu a pasar unos días. Me escribía para decirme que había estado en muchos de los restaurantes que recomiendo en este blog y me quería dar las gracias. Estaba tan agradecido que me invitaba a tomar unas copas (muy neoyorkino).
Desafortunadamente me iba fuera de Barcelona esa misma tarde, y le comenté que si quería, podían pasar a conocernos por Frescota durante esa misma mañana. No pensé que pasarían, pero a las 14:30 nos sorprendieron. Eran encantadores, y tuvimos un enamoramiento amistoso. Entraron en la agencia, estuvimos charlando y descubrimos muchos puntos en común.
Les comentamos que íbamos a NY este verano y días más tarde, nos enviaron esta lista de recomendaciones que pensé sería interesante compartir.
Here is a good list of “high-end” restaurants:
- NOMAD HOTEL restaurant . The newly opened Nomad Hotel Bar (just opened last month; I haven’t been to the bar there yet but will likely try the week before you arrive), Chef Daniel Humm is the cook behind ELEVEN MADISON (number one restaurant in NYC) and also these spots in the Nomad Hotel on Broadway and 28th. One or both of these should be on your list. Terrific wine list/many with age at restaurant. I’ve heard the chicken pot pie at the New Bar is ethereal as is the roast chicken for two at the restaurant. If you decide on the bar, arrive early as I’m sure it will be crazy. Don’t want to fight for a seat? I would reserve a table through opentable.com at the restaurant. My favorite meal of 2013. Eleven Madison is great, too. It’s just a bit too much. . .plan on $1000 for two and lots of pomp and circumstance.
- Friday lunch at TORRISI ITALIAN SPECIALITIES (or dinner) but lunch is a steal for the offering. Give yourself a couple of hours. They also have a casual spot next door (see below) where you could likely bring the kids.
- ABC KITCHEN – great for brunch with kids, lunch or dinner. Jean-Georges Vongerichten is the culinary force behind this. It’s located on the ground floor of ABC Home and Carpet which is very cool as well, I think you will both enjoy shopping here before or after your meal. There is also ABC CUCINA which we love, but it may be a bit too home-away-from-home as it’s Spanish/Latin influenced. It’s delicious though.
- TAMARIND TRIBECA – really nice Indian downtown. They just moved from Gramercy to Tribeca. I haven’t been to the new location. But, they have spectacular offerings.
- GRAMERCY TAVERN – there’s a reason this restaurant in the top 2-3 every year. Danny Meyer (big NYC restaurateur) owns this Tavern (first come) and Restaurant (opentable.com). You probably have eaten here in the past. It’s almost always spot on. We love it.
- KAJITSU – this is spectacular multi-course vegan, Japanese (sounds esoteric, but it’s not). There’s a word in Japanese that means eating with your eyes. The dishes here are beautiful and are delicious. Marlene is vegetarian and this is one of her favorites.
Here’s a short list of good/cheap eats:
- YUNNAN KITCHEN – a friend of Marlene’s owns this place. It specializes in Chinese from the southern Yunnan province (think Thai meets Chinese). They were awarded 4 clear stars from NY mag I think. That’s the highest rating for a cheap eats joint. It’s in the LES. Their wine list is a bit lackluster so maybe bring a bottle if you’re into vino – Alsacation Riesling or German Gewurz would work well.
- SOBAYA – East Village joint for delicious Soba (buckwheat) noodles. Open for lunch, kid friendly. Marlene swears by the Tororo (grated mountain yam) – kinda slimy. Ask about seasonal options.
- MOMOFUKU – this is the first restaurant of David Chang- young, celebrity, cantankerous chef. It’s good (probably not the best ramen in the city), but given his notoriety it may be worth hitting this one night or afternoon. I’m not his biggest fan, but I’m in the minority on this one. Soba is going to be the next hot “noodle” as udon and ramen have run their course. So do Sobaya over this if you must choose.
- PARM – this is the casual sandwich and pasta place next door to Torrisi Italian Specialties. Very casual, but tiny. So get there early or later for table at lunch.
- USHIWAKAMARU – Sushi in West Village. I’m adding this one though I’ve never been there. A good friend of mine (Japanese chef) says it really good. And, I trust his opinion. My last trip I went to Masa at Columbus Circle. It was great but about $200 for me for lunch. I know you guys like Asian. . .so I wanted to be sure to include a sushi place.
- GRIMALDI’S PIZZA IN BROOKLYN or LOMARDI’S in Nolita. Take the kids for NYC pizza. These are both coal oven pizzerias. Lombardi’s will be really easy as it’s in Nolita, not too far from your hotel. Grimaldi’s is great too. You can get a big pizza to go and walk over to Brooklyn Bridge Park and look up at the Brooklyn Bridge while you mange. If you do Lombardi’s, shoot over to RICE TO RICHES (super strange/Japanese) dessert place for 30+ flavors of rice pudding. The mascarpone cheese (add roasted cherries) is pretty special.